How to Pray for MissionariesSýnishorn

PRAY FOR THE MESSAGE TO BE EFFECTIVE (Eph 6:18-20)

When we come before God to pray for missions, we must begin with the conviction that the gospel of the kingdom is to be proclaimed far and wide. Our energies must be directed to this great task above all else.

Paul asks that whenever he speaks, words may be given to him so that he may make known the mystery of the gospel and do so fearlessly, as he should (Eph 6:19-20). 

Nowadays, we tend to talk a great deal about numbers of converts, church growth and the like. While these things are mentioned in Scripture, little is made of them. The New Testament letters record no attendance figures. Jesus does not mention them in his letters to the seven churches of Revelation. No church is approved for being large; none is reproved for being small. 

What we do see is a focus on the effectiveness of the Word. So the apostles prayed that they would speak the Word boldly and this is what happened (Act 4:29, 31). Subsequently it was the Word that increased and multiplied (Act 12:24), the Word that spread everywhere (Act 13:49) and the Word that increased and prevailed (Act 19:20).

 This is what praying for missionaries still means today. We must pray for them to preach the gospel boldly and fearlessly and for the Word to increase and spread. We need particularly to ask, as Paul did, that words be given to them as needed. This amounts to a request that they will speak prophetically; that at the end of the day, people would say, as they did about Jesus, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he spoke with us?’ (Luke 24:32). 

Barry Silverback, whose apostolic ministry throughout Australia and the nations of the South Pacific is legendary, recently put it to me like this: ‘It is essential to pray for firm pathways to be established in the local church for those desiring to be missionaries or participants in some other form of Christian service in other nations.’

In our local churches, this means teaching and preaching about the need for the gospel to go to all nations. It means training people with a passion for the Word of God. It means constantly raising awareness of the desperate needs that confront us both at home and abroad—desperate needs for which the gospel is the only hope. It means wide-ranging prayer for harvesters.

Jesus gave us both the Great Command—to love one another—and the Great Commission—to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Now is the time.

What next?

Consider in practical terms what it might look like in your community or country today when the Word (1) increases (2) multiplies and (3) prevails. (Consider each of these terms separately). What would change? What would be different? List specific examples.